8 June 2017

In The Kitchen: Slow Cooked Meaty Ribs

I love getting messy with food - it's a personal and enjoyable experience, who says you shouldn't have fun with your food? And that's why meaty ribs make it straight to the top of my list of delicious and fun foods to eat. Plus, they're so cheap to buy! Get them from a local butcher, or from a supermarket butcher - the ones I have used here are from Tesco Butchers, and for 6 ribs it cost me less than £4.

This slow cooked meaty ribs recipe is easy to do, and tastes incredible once it's out of the oven. All of the spices are easy to find, except one which you'll have to make yourself: adjika. Adjika is a pesto type mix of chilli, garlic, coriander, fenugreek and seasoning. This paste comes from Abkhazia, where I was born, and has been a favourite of mine since I can remember. Whenever my mum visits our family back in Abkhazia, she always brings a pot back from the market - but she is also a pro at making it at home! All you need to do is blend the ingredients together in a blender et voila, you're done! I might try and make my own version at home and write up a recipe for you guys because it's truly amazing.

What you'll need:

6 x meaty ribs

2 x garlic cloves (whole but peeled)

1 Scotch Bonnet chilli

4 teaspoons of clear honey

3 teaspoons adjika

3 teaspoons Sriracha

3 table spoons olive oil

1 small dry bay leaf

salt & pepper

Pour all of the ingredients into a large oven proof dish with the ribs. Get your hands dirty and smother the ribs in ingredients, rub the spices all over the meat and massage your ribs until tender. Leave to rest for 10 minutes to let the meat absorb the oil and spices.
In the meantime, heat your over to 170c.

Pour about one cup of boiling water into the dish, cover with tin foil or a lid, and place in the oven. Leave the ribs to cook on a slow speed for about 1hr/1.30hrs, checking occasionally that they don't burn! Your aim is to have ribs where meat simply slides off the bone, and the bone comes off clean. This meat will be tender, juicy, and full of flavour!
When you're happy you ribs have reached the 'fall off the bone' stage (and don't be afraid to have a cheeky taste!) remove them from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes.

Serve your ribs with spicy mayo (I usually mix adjika/sriracha with mayonnaise) and chips or sweet potato fries. This dish is messy, delicious, packed with a flavoursome punch yet a tangy sweetness from the honey - basically anything you could ever want from ribs!

Cooking meals like this for friends and family is so much fun, I really love having everyone sat around the table eating, talking, laughing. It's so cosy to watch! You can make these ribs in bigger batches if you have more people, but 6 ribs are perfect for 3/4 people when there's more food on the table, but not as a whole meal.